The Reality of Cloud Choice
After spending almost a decade in cloud engineering, starting with AWS in its early days and later exploring Azure through personal projects over the past few years, I've come to a simple conclusion: both platforms are remarkably capable. The choice between AWS and Azure often comes down to organisational factors, existing skills, and specific use cases rather than fundamental technical superiority.
đź’ˇ My Perspective
At the end of the day, both AWS and Azure are equally good with the range of services they provide, their global presence, and cost options. The real value lies in understanding how they map to each other and making informed decisions based on your specific requirements.
Whether you're migrating from AWS to Azure, choosing your first cloud provider, or upskilling across platforms, this comparison will help you understand the practical similarities and differences. I'll focus on commonly used services, real world architectures, and actual costs in the Australian market.
🎯 What You'll Learn
- • Direct service mappings between AWS and Azure
- • Serverless architecture comparisons with real examples
- • Practical migration considerations and trade offs
- • Objective guidance for cloud platform selection
Service by Service Comparison
Here's a comprehensive mapping of commonly used services across both platforms. Each service is grouped by category with direct comparisons, key differences, and links to official documentation.
Important Disclaimer
The key differences mentioned below are based on my personal experience and observations. I may have missed some important details or recent updates. Always refer to the official documentation for the most up‑to‑date features, capabilities, and pricing information.
Compute Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Virtual Machines Documentation | Virtual machines for general purpose computing workloads | Similar capabilities; Azure offers more Windows‑optimised instances | |
Lambda Documentation | Azure Functions Documentation | Serverless compute for event‑driven applications | Azure Functions offers more flexible hosting plans |
ECS/EKS Documentation | Container Instances/AKS Documentation | Container orchestration and management | AKS includes more built‑in DevOps integrations |
Storage Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Blob Storage Documentation | Object storage for unstructured data | Similar features; Azure has tiered storage within same account | |
Managed Disks Documentation | Block storage for virtual machines | Azure simplifies disk management with managed disks | |
Azure Files Documentation | Managed file storage for cloud or on‑premises | Azure Files offers SMB and NFS protocols |
Database Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Azure SQL Database Documentation | Managed relational database service | Azure offers serverless SQL with auto‑pause | |
DynamoDB Documentation | Cosmos DB Documentation | NoSQL database for high‑scale applications | Cosmos DB supports multiple APIs including MongoDB |
ElastiCache Documentation | Azure Cache for Redis Documentation | In‑memory caching service | Both support Redis; AWS also offers Memcached |
Networking Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Virtual Network Documentation | Isolated network environment | Similar concepts; Azure uses different terminology | |
CloudFront Documentation | Azure CDN / Front Door Documentation | Content delivery network | Azure Front Door adds WAF and load balancing |
Route 53 Documentation | Azure DNS Documentation | Domain name system service | Route 53 offers more advanced routing policies |
Load Balancer Documentation | Distribute traffic across multiple targets | AWS offers ALB, NLB, and GLB variants |
Security & Identity Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Azure AD / Entra ID Documentation | Identity and access management | Azure AD integrates better with Microsoft ecosystem | |
Key Vault Documentation | Encryption key management | Key Vault also stores secrets and certificates | |
Web Application Firewall Documentation | Web application firewall protection | Both offer managed rules and custom rule sets |
Application Services
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
Queue Storage Documentation | Message queuing service | SQS offers FIFO queues; Azure has Service Bus for advanced scenarios | |
Event Grid Documentation | Pub/sub messaging service | Event Grid offers built‑in filtering and routing | |
API Gateway Documentation | API Management Documentation | API creation and management | Azure APIM includes developer portal out of the box |
Communication Services Documentation | Email sending service | Azure Communication Services also includes SMS and voice |
Monitoring & Management
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent | Description | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
CloudWatch Documentation | Azure Monitor Documentation | Monitoring and observability | Azure Monitor includes Log Analytics workspace |
CloudTrail Documentation | Activity Log Documentation | Audit and compliance logging | Both provide comprehensive audit trails |
CloudFormation Documentation | ARM Templates / Bicep Documentation | Infrastructure as code | Bicep offers cleaner syntax than ARM templates |
Serverless Architecture Comparison
Real‑World Customer Challenge
The Scenario: A growing e‑commerce company needs to modernise their monolithic application into a scalable, cost‑effective solution. They want to:
- Handle unpredictable traffic spikes during sales events without over‑provisioning
- Reduce operational overhead by eliminating server management
- Pay only for actual usage rather than idle capacity
- Deliver a fast, globally distributed user experience
- Implement a modern API‑first architecture for mobile and web clients
The Solution: A serverless architecture that leverages managed services for compute, storage, API management, and databases. Let's see how this would be implemented on both AWS and Azure.
Below is a side‑by‑side comparison showing how the same serverless web application architecture maps across AWS and Azure. Both solutions achieve the same goals using their respective platform services.
AWS Serverless Stack
CloudFront CDN
Global content delivery with edge caching for static assets and API responses
S3 Static Website Hosting
Hosts React/Vue/Angular frontend with automatic scaling and high availability
API Gateway
RESTful API endpoints with authentication, throttling, and request validation
Lambda Functions
Business logic execution with automatic scaling from zero to thousands of requests
DynamoDB
NoSQL database with single‑digit millisecond latency and on‑demand scaling
Key Benefits
- Mature ecosystem with extensive documentation
- Lambda supports multiple runtimes and custom containers
- DynamoDB offers predictable performance at scale
Azure Serverless Stack
Azure CDN / Front Door
Global content delivery with integrated WAF and intelligent routing capabilities
Blob Storage Static Website
Hosts frontend application with built‑in versioning and lifecycle management
API Management
Enterprise API gateway with developer portal, analytics, and policy management
Azure Functions
Event‑driven compute with flexible hosting plans including consumption and premium
Cosmos DB
Multi‑model database with global distribution and multiple consistency levels
Key Benefits
- Integrated with Microsoft ecosystem and Azure AD
- Functions offer Durable Functions for stateful workflows
- Cosmos DB supports multiple APIs including MongoDB and Cassandra
Architecture Insights
Similarities
- Both architectures are fully serverless with automatic scaling
- Pay‑per‑use pricing models reduce costs during low traffic
- Global CDN distribution for optimal performance
- Managed services eliminate infrastructure maintenance
Key Differences
- Azure APIM includes built‑in developer portal and analytics
- AWS Lambda has more mature tooling and community support
- Cosmos DB offers more database API options than DynamoDB
- Azure Functions support premium plans for consistent performance
Practical Migration Considerations
Whether you're migrating from AWS to Azure, Azure to AWS, or choosing your first cloud platform, these practical considerations will help guide your decision‑making process.
Migration Assessment Tools
Before starting your migration journey, both AWS and Azure provide powerful assessment tools to help you understand your current infrastructure, estimate costs, and plan your migration strategy.
AWS Migration Hub
Centralized service to track migration progress across multiple AWS and partner solutions. Provides a single location to discover existing servers, plan migrations, and track application migrations.
Azure Migrate
Unified migration platform providing a hub of tools to assess and migrate servers, databases, web apps, and virtual desktops to Azure. Includes built‑in assessment and migration tools.
Pro Tip: Start your migration planning with these assessment tools even if you're months away from actual migration. They provide valuable insights into your infrastructure dependencies, potential issues, and accurate cost projections that can inform your business case and timeline.
Skills & Expertise
Your team's existing skills should heavily influence your choice. Training costs and productivity loss during transition can be significant.
Choose AWS if:
- • Team has Linux/open‑source background
- • Strong DevOps culture already established
- • Need extensive third‑party integrations
Choose Azure if:
- • Team experienced with Microsoft technologies
- • Heavy use of .NET, Windows Server, or SQL Server
- • Existing Microsoft enterprise agreements
Existing Infrastructure & Licensing
Consider your current investments and licensing agreements. Azure Hybrid Benefit can provide significant savings if you have existing Microsoft licenses.
💡 Pro Tip: If you're heavily invested in Microsoft 365, Active Directory, or have SQL Server licenses, Azure's integration and hybrid benefits can reduce total cost of ownership by 30‑40%.
Application Architecture
The complexity of your migration depends heavily on how tightly coupled your application is to cloud‑specific services.
Easy to Migrate
Containerised applications, standard databases, object storage
Moderate Complexity
Serverless functions, managed databases, message queues
Challenging to Migrate
Platform‑specific services like DynamoDB, Cosmos DB, proprietary APIs
Compliance & Data Residency
Both AWS and Azure offer comprehensive compliance certifications, but regional availability and specific compliance requirements may influence your choice.
For Australian Deployments:
- AWS: Sydney and Melbourne regions with extensive service availability
- Azure: Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra regions with government cloud options
- Both platforms are IRAP certified and meet Australian government requirements
Tooling & DevOps Integration
Consider how each platform integrates with your existing CI/CD pipelines and development tools.
AWS Strengths
- • Extensive Terraform support
- • Mature CloudFormation ecosystem
- • Strong GitHub Actions integration
- • AWS CDK for infrastructure as code
Azure Strengths
- • Native Azure DevOps integration
- • Bicep for cleaner IaC syntax
- • Excellent Visual Studio integration
- • Built‑in Azure Pipelines
Recommended Migration Approach
Assessment Phase
Audit your current architecture, identify dependencies, and map services to target platform equivalents
Proof of Concept
Build a small representative workload on the target platform to validate assumptions and identify challenges
Phased Migration
Migrate non‑critical workloads first, learn from the experience, then tackle production systems
Parallel Running
Run both platforms simultaneously during transition to ensure business continuity and enable rollback if needed
Optimisation
After migration, optimise for the new platform's strengths rather than maintaining old patterns
Final Thoughts
After working extensively with both platforms, I can confidently say that AWS and Azure are both excellent choices for modern cloud applications. The decision between them should be based on your specific context rather than trying to determine which is "better."
Key Takeaways
- Both platforms are equally capable for most workloads with similar service offerings and global reach
- Team skills matter more than platform features in determining success and productivity
- Existing investments and licensing can significantly impact total cost of ownership
- Migration complexity depends on architecture – loosely coupled systems migrate more easily
- Multi‑cloud skills are valuable regardless of which platform you choose today
Whether you're planning a migration or choosing your first cloud platform, I hope this comparison has provided practical insights to guide your decision. Remember that the best cloud platform is the one that aligns with your team's skills, your organisation's existing investments, and your specific technical requirements.
Need help with your cloud strategy? Whether you're migrating between platforms or optimising your existing cloud infrastructure, I'd be happy to discuss your specific situation. Feel free to reach out through the contact section below.
Next Steps
Choosing between AWS and Azure is a strategic decision that impacts your organisation for years to come. The right choice depends on your specific requirements, existing infrastructure, and long-term goals.
Evaluate Your Requirements
Start by mapping your technical requirements, compliance needs, and existing technology investments. Consider both immediate needs and 3-5 year growth projections.
Run Proof of Concepts
Deploy pilot projects on both platforms to evaluate real-world performance, costs, and developer experience before making a full commitment.
Need Help with Your Cloud Strategy?
Let's discuss your cloud requirements and determine the best platform for your organisation.